Is there any legitimate way to recover an overwritten Microsoft Word file?

I have seen a lot of how to guides the Internet. I have tried a few but they did not work. And then I have read other things that say you cannot do this. Would it be possible to use any type of data recovery software?

Also I'm not entirely sure it was overwritten. I had about 17 pages to the document that I was working on earlier today I opened it just now and I only have one page. I don't remember doing anything that would have caused me to lose all of the other pages.



I have searched through my computer for an alternate version of the document and I found nothing.
Can anyone think of anything else that may have happened and how I can fix it?

Thanks a lot I really need to get a hold of this document. I know I should have backed it up somewhere else, but I didn't or I wouldn't be asking this question.